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Russia
Russia ( Russian : Россия, Rossiya), officially the Russian Federation ( Russian : Российская Федерация, Rossijskaja Federatsija), is a country geographically situated partly in Europe ( European Russia ) and partly in Asia . However, it is from a political perspective, European since its main parts are located in the European part and over 70% of the population lives here. Moscow is the largest city, the capital and economic heart of Russia. The government is based in Moscow. With an area of 17,098,246 square kilometers, Russia is the largest country in the world, almost twice as large as the next country, Canada. In terms of population, Russia is the ninth country in the world. Russia shares borders with the following fourteen countries (counter-clockwise from NW toZO): Noorwegen , Finland , Estland ,Letland , Litouwen , Polen , Wit-Rusland , Oekraïne , Georgië , Azerbeidzjan , Kazachstan , China , Mongolië en Noord-Korea . Verder it is separated by a narrow strait of the United States ( Alaska ) and Japan . The Kaliningrad oblast is an exclave , sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania. Russia counted on January 1 146 270 330 inhabitants according to data from the Russian government. This number includes the inhabitants of the Crimea understood.Without this region was the number of inhabitants on 143 975 923. The country formed from 1917 to 1991 as Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), the core of the Soviet Union . Russia is now an independent country and an influential member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). In diplomatic affairs Russia is seen as the successor state of the Soviet Union. The currency of Russia is the Russian ruble . Contents * 1 History * 2 Administrative divisions * 3 Demographics ** 3.1 Population ** 3.2 Ethnicity ** 3.3 Religion ** 3.4 Language * 4 Geography ** 4.1 Major cities ** 4.2 Rivers and lakes ** 4.3 Nature *** 4.3.1 Fauna ** 4.4 Climate * 5 Sights * 6 Culture ** 6.1 General ** 6.2 Architecture ** 6.3 Painting * 7 Sport * 8 Politics ** 8.1 Changes in the NGO law and attendance threshold ** 8.2 Heads of State *** 8.2.1 1991-present: Russian Federation (Russia) ** 8.3 Political parties *** 8.3.1 represented in the Duma *** 8.3.2 not represented in the Duma * 9 Economy * 10 Traffic and transport ** 10.1 Railways * 11 Media History Administrative divisions In 1992 the Russian Federation included 89 areas with differing status. After a series of reforms that were 85: * 46 oblasts (provinces) * 21 autonomous republics (respoebliki) * 9 Krajs * 1 autonomous oblast , the Jewish Autonomous Oblast since May 7, 1934 * 4 autonomous districts (okroegs) * 2 federal cities ( Moscow and St. Petersburg ) Autonomous republics sometimes regard themselves as sovereign (including Tatarstan ) or even as independent (insurgents in Chechnya ). The territories of autonomous districts are generally situated in the territory of the Oblast or Krai. Since 2005 takes place an administrative reform to reduce the number of subregions. The autonomous districts are hereby first administratively merged with the sub-region in which they lie. Since 2000 there exists between these regions and the national level between a low of seven federal districts (federalnyj Okrug ). The federal government in Moscow has set a target number of areas to reduce to about 50. On October 23, 2005 agreed the population of sub Kamchatka and Koryakia for the merging of both areas. Earlier decided Evenk Autonomous Okrug and Taimyr go all together with Krasnoyarsk Krai . The first has already achieved fusion of Permjakië and Perm oblast to Perm Krai on December 1, 2005. For information on the political and administrative situation during the communist period, see * Soviet Union * Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Demographics Population Population in millions, 1950-2014. Percentage of ethnic Russians by region Russia has a large population but a low population density. In the 20th century the Russian population is relatively slow growing, from 70 million in 1900 to 'only' twice now. The population of the Russian Federation by the CIA estimated at 142 470 272 (2014) (see list countries by population ), while in 1991 the disintegration of the Soviet Union amounted to nearly 149 million. The Russian statistical office gave 141 912 800 on 1 May 2008. With estimates of the United Nations for Nigeria , Russia would then after Nigeria in ninth place come to be in terms of population. The majority of the population lives in European Russia , the Urals and in southwest Siberia . The Russian Far Eastand most of northern Russia are relatively sparsely populated. The fastest growing regions in terms of population are Moscow (by migration) and its environs and the Islamic Republic of Dagestan (natural growth). The country has a large surplus of women. On January 1, 2012 there were 10 million more women than men in the country. This difference is mainly explained by the Second World War , when many men were killed in the fight against Germany. Especially over 60 years are the big differences between the number of men and women by age group. More than three quarters of the Russian population lives in the city. The urbanization of Russia is still increasing. In particular, the capital Moscow is a popular destination for relocation. About 13% of the population lived in 2010 in Moscow and the surrounding oblast . The trek to the city means that more and more villages emptied the countryside.Between 2002 and 2010, for example, the number of villages with no population increased from 13,000 to 19,000. Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union is experiencing declining population through emigration and deteriorating living conditions. The fertility has declined, while the mortality particularly among men has skyrocketed as a result of deteriorating working conditions and alcoholism . This is the life expectancy of men and women differ greatly.The population decline was tempered by both immigration of ethnic Russians from other former Soviet republics, but on the other hand strengthened by emigration, particularly in Europe and the United States. After the 90s, which is disastrous because of deteriorating economic conditions, the fertility, especially among Russians edged up again slightly (from 8.7 births per 1,000 inhabitants in 2000 to 10.4 in 2004 and 13.3 in 2013) and the government is trying to spend the fertility level programs further. Among the resident Turkic peoples fertility is higher than among the Russians. In 2009, the Russian Federation reported for the first time a positive population growth of 10,500 people. Other trends include an increase in the age at which women have children (especially in cities), and the breakthrough of the sexual revolution in the 90s by the deteriorating conditions are, however, nationalism and racism increased. People of Jewish descent and Caucasian origin are especially discriminated against in major European cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg and the racial hatred has increased under the influence of radical groups as the RNE , Pamyat and the DPNI . Ethnicity In Russia live about 160 different ethnic groups and indigenous peoples . The main ethnic groups in the census 2002 waren Russen (79,8%), Tataren (3,8%), Oekraïners (1,2%), Basjkieren (1,1%), Tsjoevasjen(0,9%), Tsjetsjenen (0,9%) and Armenians (0.8%). The other comprised 10.3% (in addition to those who did not specify their ethnicity) underandere Avaren , Abchazen , Azerbeidzjanen , Boerjaten , Chanten ,Chinezen , Duitsers (inclusief Wolga-Duitsers ), Eskimo's , Evenken , Georgiërs , Grieken , Ingoesjen , Jakoeten , Joden , Kareliërs , Kazachen , Koerden , Koreanen , Korjaken , Mansi's , Mari's , Mordvienen ,Nenetsen , Oedmoerten , Oezbeken , Kalmukken , Osseten , Polen , Tsjoektsjen , Tuvienen en Wit-Russen . Almost all of these people live within a limited area, in larger populations often also bears their name. Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians are among the nations that are in the country. Religion The Christ the Saviour Cathedral , blown up during the Soviet regime and rebuilt between 1990 and 2000, is a symbol of the religious renaissance in Russia. Russia is predominantly Christian and was Christianized in the 10th century. 12 According to the US Department of State considered in 2007 about 100 million inhabitants themselves as Russian Orthodox Christians 13 In addition, come mainly Islam, Buddhism and Judaism for . At the time of the communist regime any form of religion was suppressed and many people were atheistic . Estimates of the number of believers vary widely. The Russian Orthodox Church is also after 1991, the main Christian religion remained in Russia. Many ethnic Russians are few practicing, but sympathetic to the Church, which also has great cultural significance for Russian history. The Islam follows in second place. Buddhism is traditional for three regions of the Russian Federation: Buryatia , Tuva and Kalmykia . Other religions include various Protestant churches and the Old Believers , Judaism , Catholicism (see Catholic Church in Russia ), shamanism and Mormons . Often is the faith of a Russian with his ethnicity: ethnic Russians are often Russian Orthodox, tuvans are mostly Buddhist and Turkish and Caucasian peoples are often Muslim. Language The Russian is the only official state language, but have autonomous republics and autonomous districts alongside the right to use one or more languages as the official language. 14 These languages are all on the Cyrillic alphabet written already exist for some languages, as The Tatar and Chechen alongside other alphabets, which have no official status. Official texts should always be written with the Cyrillic alphabet. In the autonomous republics of the main local languages are official language alongside Russian.In total 160 ethnic groups speaking some 100 languages in Russia. Geography Satellite image of Russia Map of the climate classification of Köppen-Geiger ( 2007 ). Russia is the largest country in the world. The total area is 17,075,400 square kilometers. The country lies between 41 ° and 82 ° north and 19 ° east and 169 ° west longitude. The highest mountain is Mount Elbrus, with 5,642 meters and the lowest point is the Caspian Sea 30 meters below sea level. The coastline is 37,000 kilometers long. Russia shares about 20,000 kilometers of the border with other countries, including approximately 1,340 km with Finland , 206 km with Poland , 1,576 km with Ukraine , Kazakhstan 6,846 km, China 3,645 km, Mongolia and 3,485 km North Korea 19 km. There are 23 UNESCO World Heritage Sites , 40 UNESCO biosphere reserves , 40 national parks and 101 nature reserves in Russia. Major cities Russia counted in the last census in 2010 over 1000 cities, ranging in size from 11.5 million ( Moscow ) to about 1,300 ( Verkhoyansk ) people.There were twelve cities with over one million inhabitants. In order of magnitude, these were Moscow, St. Petersburg , Novosibirsk , Yekaterinburg, Nizhniy Novgorod , Samara , Omsk , Kazan , Chelyabinsk , Rostov-on-Don , Ufa and Volgograd . Russia then counted 164 cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants. Often, these cities the administrative center of one of the more than 80 areas of Russia. The largest cities in which this was not the case, were Tolyatti , Novokuznetsk , Naberezhnye Chelny and Magnitogorsk . Rivers and lakes The main rivers in the European part of Russia, the Volga , Don , Kama , the Oka , Northern Dvina , the Dnieper and the Western Dvina . In the Asian part of Russia are the main rivers Ob , Irtysj , Yenisei , Angara , Lena , Amur , Jana , Indigirka and Kolyma . In total there are more than 120,000 rivers and approximately 2,000 lakes in Russia. Nature * Virgin Komiwouden * Western Caucasus * Zapovednik Fauna Russia has an enormous biodiversity, with 320 mammal species, 730 bird species, 93 reptile species, 17 36 species of amphibians, 18 nearly 400 species on the seashore species of fish and 270 species of freshwater fish. Since 1997, this included a total of 415 species in the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation 19 and are now protected. More detail concerning the 155 species of invertebrates , 4 species ofjawless fish , 39 species of fish , 8 species of amphibians , 221 species of reptiles , 123 species of birds and 65 species of mammals . Climate Russia has long, dark and cold winters. In the far north, the winter can last six months. Oymyakon is known as the coldest place in the world living above the Arctic Circle, located in Siberia , the average January temperature is not above -50 ° C. Most major rivers in Siberia flow to the north, the melt water from the southern rivers can not flow as long as the rivers are still frozen in the north is making vast areas in the spring come under water. Large areas of Russia also have hot summers because of the continental climate . In the extreme south of the European part of the country, in the Caucasus and the foothills to the shores of theBlack Sea and Caspian Sea , dominates a subtropical climate . Sights * Kizhi Pogost in Karelia * Kremlin and Red Square , Moscow * Historical monuments of Veliky Novgorod region * Culture and history of Solovki on the Solovetsky Islands * White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal in Vladimir Oblast * Architecture of the Triniti Sergius Lavra in Sergiev Posad * Kolomenskoje , including the Church of the Assumption * Virgin Komiwouden in the republic of Komi , in the Urals * Baikal * Volcanoes of Kamchatka (extended in 2001) * Golden Mountains of Altai * Western Caucasus * Ferapontovklooster * Historical and architectural complex of the Kazan Kremlin * Curonian Spit (partly in Lithuania ) * Central Sikhote-Alingebergte * Fort, old town and fortifications of Derbent * Basin of Uvs Nuur (partly in Mongolia ) * Natural system of Wrangel Island -reservaat * Novodevichy Convent with surrounding buildings * Struve Geodetic Arc in Belarus, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Moldova, Russia, Sweden and Ukraine. Culture General The relatively late arrival of the secularization in Russian culture is often regarded as the main difference between the West European and Russian culture. In Western culture, the secular culture did its influence already in force since the Renaissance in the 14th century , but in Russia only in the 17th century . Until that time were architecture , literature and painting mostly dominated by the Christianity , or the Russian Orthodoxy . The 19th century is widely recognized as the pinnacle of Russian culture: Alexander Pushkin , Nikolai Gogol , Ivan Turgenev , Fyodor Dostoyevsky , Leo Tolstoy and Anton Chekhov in literature, Ilya Repin , Isaak Levitan , Savrasov, Serov and Vroebel in painting, Michail Glinka, Tchaikovsky , Modest Mussorgsky , Alexander Borodin and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in music. The Russian ballet in the 19th century world famous names such as Diaghilev and Nijinsky . In the early 20th century symbolism emerged, including the writer Aleksandr Blok and the poet and artist Maksimilian Voloshin as main representatives. With regard to the Russian poetry may names as Anna Akhmatova and Marina Tsvetaeva not go unmentioned. Russia was in the 20th century, many famous composers such as Igor Stravinsky , Sergei Prokofiev , Dmitri Shostakovich and Sofia Gubaidulina . During this period, most Russian culture bearers were by their upbringing paradoxically enough on Western Europe oriented. In the early 20th century made new restoration techniques allow the old Russian icons to recover all their original splendor. These icons then caused a worldwide sensation. The old Russian culture was so rediscovered and made its appearance in the arts, but it remained hereby limited to its outer forms that were often mixed with the then popular Art Nouveau . The works of Russian composers and writers are among highlights of world culture. The German writer Thomas Mann even spoke of "the holy Russian Literatur." Architecture Pokrovkerk the Njerl (1165) at Bogolyubovo, a textbook example of Old Russian architecture, with the characteristic of many Russian Orthodox churches' onion dome. The Russian architecture was the Fall of Constantinople mainly influenced by Byzantine architecture . By the end of the 15th and early 16th century trends from the Renaissanceby Aristotle Fioravanti and other Italian architects introduced in Russia. During the reigns of Ivan the Terrible and Boris Godunov came the typical tent roof churches , culminating with the Saint Basil's Cathedral . In the 17th century flourished the "flowery style" of ornamentation in Moscow and Yaroslavl , which was gradually paved the way for the Narysjkin baroque- 90s of the 17th century. The 18th-century taste for rococo architecture led to the very ornate works of Bartolomeo Rastrelli and his followers. During the reign of Catherine the Great and her grandson Alexander I , the city was St. Petersburg turned into an outdoor museum of Neoclassical architecture . The 19th century was dominated by a resurgence of Byzantine and Russian influences. The main styles of the 20th century, the Art Nouveau ( Fyodor Sjechtel ), Constructivism ( Aleksey Shchusev and Konstantin Melnikov ) and the Stalinist Imperial Style (Boris Iofan ). Characteristic for the country is building in wood that defines the face of Russian architecture for a large part. The prototype of this style is the farmhouse, an izba . Painting Angel with golden hair (12th century), a masterpiece of Soezdalschool Vladimir, Russia. The Russian icon has its roots also in the Byzantine tradition, but an early icon painting in Russia is going to develop in its own way and they broke away from the Byzantine-Greek style. There emerged various schools in Russia with their own styles. The most famous schools ofNovgorod , of Vladimir-Suzdal and Moscow. Furthermore Yaroslavl of the school should the Stroganovschool and school Palech are called, are already icons of these schools are not seen as the pinnacle of Russian icon painting. The heyday of the Russian icon is usually located in the 13th to the 16th century. It is also during this time that the great icon painters were active: Andrei Rublev , Daniil Tsjornyj , Feofan Grekand Dionisij . From the 17th century, Western influence in the icon art prints, which led to a more realistic style of painting. Sports If the number of Olympic medals of the USSR and Russia are added, the country is world number 2 in the world in terms of the number of gold medals at both the summer and winter games. The Soviet and later Russian athletes have always been in the top 3 vwb the number of gold medals at the Summer Games. * In July 2007, it made IOC announced that the Russian resort of Sochi the 2014 Winter Olympics may organize. It will be the first Olympic Games since Moscow in 1980 in theSoviet Union . * On December 2 2010 was FIFA president Sepp Blatter during the announcement for the World Cup of 2018 and 2022 , the 2018 World Cup was awarded to Russia. Politics Russia has an elected president, parliamentary elections and a multiparty system. Although there are a lot of fraud in favor of the current Russian president, Vladimir Putin, in both the presidential election and the parliamentary elections. Russia has universal suffrage since 1918. The voting age is 18 years. There is a two parliament. Thelower house is called State Duma (Государственная дума) and consists of representatives of all parties that the threshold down to 5%. The upper house is called Federation Council (Совет Федерации); it consists of representatives of all 83 regions, each region has two representatives. From 2000 to 2008, and again from 2012, was Vladimir Putin , the President of the Russian Federation. During his reign some democratic freedoms, however, were gradually returning to some restricted. So he determined that from 2004 the federal president would choose the governors of the regions, instead of that this happened through regional elections. Putin later stated that they will turn back, after the protests in 2011 and 2012 . Political opponents in presidential elections have no fair chance. Examples include the alleged abduction of presidential candidate Ivan Ribkin and the sudden tax of Yukos that came up when owner oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky had political aspirations. Earlier fled co-owner of oil company Sibneft oligarch Boris Berezovsky all the country. Another interesting feature is the attempt by Putin to appoint governors and oligarchs on poor areas, with the aim to make these oligarchs invest money in these areas. Changes in the NGO law and turnout threshold On 23 November 2005, the Federal State Duma adopted on first reading a law, which imposes obligations on NGO 's to register again. During the third reading on December 23, 2005 this law with 357 votes against 20 was finally adopted. Allows for the federal government was able to gain financial insight into the activities of these NGOs. A few months earlier, President Putin indicated that he would not tolerate foreign money was used to support political activities in Russia. In Ukraine, were such funds (such as George Soros ) used for the Orange Revolution . On January 10, 2006 Putin signed the law. Until 2006 gold a turnout threshold for the turnout for elections of 25% and for presidential elections on 50%, but on 17 November 2006. This rise thresholds were abolished possible to continue even at a very low turnout without delay to rule. Heads 1991-present: Russian Federation (Russia) * Vladimir Putin ( 2012 - present ) * Dmitry Medvedev ( in 2008 - in 2012 ) * Vladimir Putin (January 1, 2000 - 2008 ) * Boris Yeltsin ( 1991 - 31st December 1999 ) Political parties The biggest political parties are United Russia and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation . In addition, the Duma has two smaller parties, the democratic socialist Just Russia and the extreme right-wing ultra-nationalist LDPR . At the parliamentary elections in 2011 took too Dexter Case , the left nationalist Patriots of Russia and the socially liberal Jabloko part; However, they did not achieve the electoral threshold of 7%. Represented in the Duma * United Russia led by Vladimir Putin , the party is center-right and is in favor of free market economy. It is the largest party in Russia and the Kremlin party. * Communist Party of the Russian Federation headed by Gennady Zyuganov : a Communist Party. * Just Russia led by Nikolai Levichev : the democratic-socialist party was formed by the merger of three smaller parties, Rodina (Motherland), the Pensioners' Party and the Russian Party of Life . * LDPR led by Vladimir Zhirinovsky , the party's political far right and authoritarian. Zhirinovsky is also a very populist politician who regularly noted in the media, including in various popular television shows. Is often seen as a project of the Kremlin. Not represented in the Duma * Jabloko headed by Sergei Mitrokhin : is a social liberal party, highly westernized. The party is in favor of Russian membership of the European Union , and opponent of the war in Chechnya . * Patriots of Russia headed by Gennady Semigin : a left nationalist party. * Dexter Case led by Andrey Dunaev : a liberal center-right party. The party is a project of the Kremlin. Economy Among the changes in 1990 - put in motion by the last president of the Soviet Union , Mikhail Gorbachev - Russia was in the Soviet Union a communist country. After that, under the leadership of Boris Yeltsin in a rapidly moving toward the always maligned western " capitalism "started. This development has the whole socioeconomic system of Russia churned up, so initially no greater prosperity was achieved, except for the new elite and business. In December 1991 the Soviet regime collapsed in. The poor economic conditions and weak financial position of the government made a fundamental economic reorientation necessary. One of the first steps after the fall was releasing the price; this led to a large overshoot doubling of prices alone were abolished in January 1992. Subsidies, new taxes introduced and a fixed exchange rate for theruble established. The money supply increased explosively partly causing the inflation stood at around 2.520% for the whole of 1992, followed by 840% in 1993 and 224% in 1994. From July 1992 the ruble was freely convertible into foreign currencies including US dollars. The intention to keep the exchange rate relatively stable was soon abandoned. Between July 1992 and October 1995 the rate of the ruble fell dramatically, from 144 rubles for one dollar to about 5,000 rubles in October 1995. All companies were owned by the government. A privatization program was initiated to reduce the role of government and encouraging private initiative. On 1 October 1993, each citizen received a voucher worth 10,000 rubles redeemable in shares of companies. In June 1994, approximately 70% of medium and large enterprises in private hands and 90% of small firms. In the second phase of the privatization round, the government decided to sell its stakes in companies. Privatisation was plagued by many corruption scandals; the population became lost confidence. Public enterprises went for little money to individuals with good connections within the government or the Russian mafia. The boundaries between these two groups was particularly vague and heralded the introduction of the Russian oligarchs. Between 1991 and 1997 shrank GDP ( gross domestic product ) by 42% (compared during The Great Depression US GDP shrank by 30%). Industrial production in Russia decreased by 53%, agricultural production by 37%. Due to the enormous inflation the average wage was sufficient only to two minimum survival packs to buy (a poverty line used by the Russian statistiekencomité). During Soviet times the average wage was 5 or 6 times such minimum survival kit. In 1997 Russia was the first time since the beginning of the reforms with low economic growth (around 2%), but by the financial crisis that began on 17 August 1998 (uncontrolled depreciation of the ruble ) this positive trend was broken. Since 1999 , however, Russia has strong economic growth, averaging 6% per annum. That is mainly due to the devaluation of the ruble and high oil prices. With the gradual growth of investments and the income of the population domestic consumption an increasingly important factor in this growth. In 2011, two decades after the revolution, income per capita was 40% of the average of the OECD countries. The economic growth in the period 2001-2011 averaged 5.25% per annum; according to theInternational Monetary Fund a disappointing result given the wealth of natural resources, especially oil and natural gas , and the quadrupling of oil prices over this period. Economic instability and weak political system, including legal uncertainty, resulting in a difficult investment climate. In 2011, the country had a gross national product of 54,000 billion rubles, or $ 1,850 billion, about three times the level of the Netherlands. The export of energy the country has a large surplus in the trade balance . About two-thirds of export earnings are the result of exports of petroleum and natural gas. Part of these proceeds are earmarked and Russia had approximately $ 500 billion in international reserves at the end of 2011. The government also benefits from these exports; about a third of state revenue are energy-related. Given the political uncertainty and a lack of investment opportunities of countries experiencing large capital flight; In the first quarter of 2012, $ 35 billion left the country, which is a doubling compared to the same quarter a year earlier. For the future, the challenge is how to promote the development of small and medium businesses. This development is currently still very difficult because, as the economic climate is dominated by oligarchs and inadequate functioning banking system . Many of the banks are controlled by oligarchs and entrepreneurs who use bank deposits for loans to companies, which are affiliated to them. This is one of the spearheads of the World Trade Organization and the EBRD, which try to make the process fairer these expire. Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin intervened in the economy and nationalizations carried out. For information about the Russian economy at the time of the USSR, see: Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , USSR . Its main trading partners are the European Union , China , Ukraine and Japan. Traffic and transport Russia has a network of M-roads ( M'' stands for ''magistral "road"), which is found mainly in European Russia. Outside are secondary roads, known as A-roads. Although few M-weigh the motorway status have (only portions of the M-2 and M-4 are officially motorway), are many of the major Russian roads have 2 lanes in each direction, usually separated by a median strip, and there are often no flyovers. Most routes go past the big cities, have through bypasses, so no through traffic through the city center. Around the capital, Moscow is the ring road MKAD (in full: Moskovskaja Koltsevaja Avtomobilnaja Doroga ), a 2x5-lane motorway. The main roads are: * M-1 : Moscow - Smolensk - Belarus * M-2 : Moscow - Tula - Kursk - Belgorod - Ukraine * M-3 : Moscow - Bryansk - Ukraine * M-4 : Moscow - Voronezh - Rostov-on-Don * M-5 : Moscow - Samara - Chelyabinsk * M-7 : Moscow - Nizhny Novgorod - Kazan - Perm - Ufa * M-8 : Moscow - Yaroslavl - Arkhangelsk * M-9 : Moscow - Velikiye Luki - Latvia * M-10 : Moscow - St. Petersburg Railways The Russian railways with a total length of 87 157 km (2002), the number two in the world. Media Russian newspapers include: * Kommersant * Nezavisimaja Gazeta * Novaya Gazeta * Pravda Category:Country Category:Russia